My entire livelihood is based on open-source software, the languages that I code in, the tools that I use. If open-source has given me so much, what am I giving back?
Site optimisation no longer seems to be an issue what with ever increasing broadband speeds. However Google found that 0.5 second increase in page load times decreased traffic and revenue by 20%. Website optimisation is still one of the most important factors when building and developing sites.
Having been working on more and more Wordpress sites I realised there are a few plug-ins that I use on almost every site. So, with no more todo here are my essential top five Wordpress plug-ins.
The thorn in the side of all web developers/designers, making its all look the same. While all will agree that Microsoft products cause the problems, IE6 and IE7 to a lesser extent, we have to live with it. Why's and wherefores aside the majority of traffic come from these browsers and unless your John Gruber you've got to live with it.
A new design, a new domain and a new job. Looking at my old site it was clear that a complete overhaul was needed. To start with the domain, jn-online.co.uk, was a massive pain to communicate.
Daytum.com, if you don't know already provides stats tracking. You can track anything you like, from bannanas eaten to miles run. I guess the idea is to share it. I find it fascinating, not looking at other peoples data but the ability to track random metrics.
Recently I rearranged the icons on my iPhone, moving the most frequently used to the first screen. I found myself skipping past these icons to go back to their original page. I had icon blindness through habit, a habit formed by hundreds of click, scroll, scroll, tap repetitions. Whereas now all that was needed is a click, tap.